


Flying On High

by WolfOfProphecys



Series: The Red Eagle [1]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen, Mutant!Tony, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-20
Updated: 2013-08-02
Packaged: 2017-12-15 14:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/850611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfOfProphecys/pseuds/WolfOfProphecys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anthony Edward Stark holds a secret close to his heart. He's a mutant. What will the great Tony Stark do when the Avengers find out about his great wings? And will he ever ask for the help he needs? Anthony Edward Stark holds a secret. One that's about to be revealed to his friends. AU. Takes part after Avengers and Iron Man 3 never happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Red and gold

Tony was only ten when it happened.

When he awoke one morning to the call of Jarvis, the Stark family butler, he had a uncomfortable feeling on his back, close to his shoulders.

Thinking nothing of it he groggily climbed out of bed and walked into his bathroom that joined on to his bedroom. Looking in the mirror he fixed his hair and stood there watching himself for a few minutes.

For a ten year old Tony looked fairly grown up. He was short for his age, but made up for his lack of height with his cockiness and attitude. His dark brown hair was stuck up in all directions, and his chocolate colored eyes glistened in the light of the bathroom window opposite the mirror.

At the moment he was only wearing his PJ bottoms, which were blue with the classic Captain America shield patterned across them. He was a proud Captain America fan, and his whole bedroom was filled with red, white and blue merchandise.

After brushing his teeth, he grinned into the mirror showing off his signature 'im Tony Stark' smile before turning around and walking back toward the door.

Looking one last time in the mirror Anthony Edward Stark was shocked. He quickly shoved the door shut and locked himself inside the bathroom, walking back over to the mirror and turning halfway around so he could see his back.

Producing from his shoulders were two strange bony bumps, one had a single small metallic red feather sprouting from it.

FoHFoHFohFoHFoHFohFoHFoHFoH

After that Tony had yelled so loud that he had awakened his mother and captured Jarvis' attention from father wasn't here this week as he was on a business trip.

Both adults raced up to Tony's room and hurried in, only to hear a few panicked sobs coming from the Bathroom. Maria Stark tried to open it but it was no use. It was locked.

"Anthony! Anthony are you ok?" Her sweet voice was laced with worry for her young son, who was sobbing behind the door.

Jarvis looked around until he found the spare key, and unlocked the door opening it slowly. Both adults rushed to the young Stark who was huddled in the corner, his head tucked between his knees.

Maria took her son into a hug but gasped as she saw the bony bumps producing from his back.

"Are you ok Anthony?"

"W-Whats w-wrong with m-me!?" He cried into her shoulder, hugging her tightly.

"Nothing is wrong Anthony. Your just different. And different is good." She told him stroking the top of his head in a calming gesture.

The small boy smiled at his mother, glad she didn't think he was a freak. His face fell as he though of something else, something worse.

"What about dad?"

Jarvis visibly winced at the question. Everyone in the household knew that Howard wasn't interested in his own son, but he hated mutants with a firey hatred and it would be devastating if he found out. He was about to answer when Maria had a idea.

"We'll find a way to hide them sweety."

FoHFoHFohFoHFoHFohFoHFoHFoH

So whilst Tony and his wings were growing Jarvis would wrap them in bandages every morning so that they were pulled flush to his body. Hardly anyone would notice apart from Jarvis and Maria, who knew the secret and could see it easily.

Luckily Howard never noticed. He was normally too drunk or too busy to care for his son anyway.

But as Tony grew taller and stronger, his wings consequently grew in length and width, and there came a time when the teen would wear a long trench coat in order to conceal their existence.

They now reached down past his knees, and the feathers covering them were a metallic red and the tips of his wings were covered in gold feathers that glinted in the light.

After Maria had found out Tony had wings, she asked Howard if Tony could be home schooled, so that she could keep an eye on her son. Howard agreed quickly, being more fussed over his work than his family's welfare.

So after that Tony was schooled by his mother and Jarvis, who knew just about anything when it came to the world. Tony himself would work out how to create invention and use the tools, which he was used to.

For exercise Maria, Jarvis and Tony would wait until Howard was on a business trip, and they had sent the staff home, before walking toward their private field, that was surrounded by empty land, and Tony would practice flying.

It was a amazing thing to see, the great wings caressing the air, glinting in the late afternoon sun.

It was even more amazing for the young Stark though.

He could feel the rush of air pass him as he swooped and swerved around the sky, yelling in joy and excitement.

FoHFoHFohFoHFoHFohFoHFoHFoH

When Tony was admitted to MIT he had whooped and hollered in happiness, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to even stretch his wings. Howard was somehow proud too, and had gave his son a hefty pat on the back, hitting his wings, though Howard never noticed Tony wince, and told him that he would have his own dorm so he wouldn't have to share with other, older kids.

For a time he was happy, learning things he mainly already knew and creating a AI for a 'simple' robot project (though his teacher had been amazed that whilst the others had made a small 'bot that was remote controlled, Tony had made a AI that he affectionately called Dum-E). That was until he was took home by his parents after graduation.

Both Maria and Howard(which was a surprise) were proud of their son, and were happily conversating with Tony, who was sat in the back of the expensive motor.

That was until some jerk decided to overtake the car in front of him and crash, head-on, into the Stark's car.

Tony was shoved forward, luckily surviving with only a few scrapes and bruises. His parents though were not so lucky.

Maria had died on impact, her neck snapping in two as it was flung into the airbag. Howard looked like he had hit his head and had probably died a few seconds after the impact.

The realization hit him that Tony was alone in the world. Jarvis had passed away two years ago when Tony was only fifteen and, Tony now felt his world crumble around him.

He was alone.

FoHFoHFohFoHFoHFohFoHFoHFoH

When he was twenty-one Tony took over the company from Obadiah Stane, Howard's old friend and business partner. The company was boring and he went through his PA's like he did coffee. And he drank a lot of coffee.

Then he met Pepper.

She had walked straight in the door, security following her as she stormed into the room. When one tried to grab her she reached into her bag and sprayed him in the face with pepper spray.

The guards backed off, though keeping a wary eye on the mad girl as she stormed up to Tony, who was sitting on a stool (his hidden wings wouldn't let him sit on anything with a back) trench coat on his shoulders and one eyebrow high in admiration.

"Sir, I think you made a miscalculation. And, even though your math is always right, and I have been fired because of trying to correct the great Tony Stark, but I know its wrong," She placed down the guilty sheet and pointed, "Here."

Looking at the paper where she was pointing, he saw she was right. He had somehow messed up and this woman had noticed.

"Whats your name?" He asked whilst correcting the numbers.

"Virginia Potts" She replied, looking for all the world happy that she was right.

"Well Pepper, how would you like to be my new PA?"

She frowned "Really? And my names n-"

"Of course. You start tomorrow. see you then!"


	2. losing the one thing you can't live without

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just so people know this is also one of my stories on fanfiction.net. I do not own the avengers or any Marvel thing. Yet I do own this tale of dramatic events.

After his parents death Tony had made a new plan. He was going to save people from other idiots.

And so came the Red Eagle.

His costume was basically a bullet proof vest, strong trousers and a red helmet with metal feathers sticking up and a eagles face, including a beak, to conceal his identity. No one knew of his late night exploits, for that is the only time the Red Eagle would appear, except for him himself. Not even Pepper knew who the Red Eagle was. Only Tony.

He would fly around, looking for people to save, from old people in the road to stopping assassination attempts. It never seemed to end.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

Ten years after he met Pepper found Tony in his workshop, finishing a old Hot-Rod for vanity fair when Pepper came walking in.

She was on the phone and had turnt the genius' music down to his utter disappointment.

"You are supposed to be half-way around the world right now." She said putting the mobile back into her pocket.

"Funny, I thought that it being my plane, it would wait for me." He snarked back, turning so that his wings (for he was not wearing his trench coat) were facing the expensive car.

They carried on the banter for a few minutes, before Pepper shooed him upstairs to get changed.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

Once Tony had finally got to the plane, flew over to Afghanistan shown off and called Obi he was back in the 'Funvee' as he had said to Rhodes, who had gone in the 'Humdrumvee'.

He was easily conversating with the soldiers in the 'funvee' when it happened. The explosion of the other vehicle rocked the 'not-so-fun-anymorevee' as the front two soldiers leapt out the vehicle and started shooting at the opposition.

When they were suddenly shot down the one to his left, Jimmy, yelled at him to stay where he was before trampsing out from the safety off the Humvee, and getting suddenly shot.

Feeling like there was no hope left, Tony nearly fell out the door and ran over to a nearby boulder, where he quickly brought out his Stark phone and began to quickly text Pepper. He was only halfway through texting her, when a bomb, which his name literally on it, flew down and half buried itself in the sand before him.

He scrambled away, but the bomb nearly blew up in his face as he was thrown backward.

Feeling a pain in his chest he tore his shirt and cursed, the blood wasn't good.

Not good at all.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

When he next fully awoke, all he could see was a rocky ceiling. There was a slight tingling in his nose as he reached up and pulled a breathing tube out.

His throat was as dry as the Sahara Desert, or that was what it felt like anyway, so he reached over toward a bottle that Tony was sure contained a liquid of some sort. He stopped when he felt a pull at his chest and a odd squeaking sound behind him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

He had forgotten about the man, who was casually shaving in a small mirror. Turning around Tony saw a old car battery, the wires travelling toward his chest area. Panicking now, he tore at the bandages, trying to work out what it was that terrified him so much.

Ten minutes later Tony and the man (for he still didn't know his name) who were talking about the electro magnet in his chest keeping the shrapnel away from his heart. Tony was sat on the bed, if that's what you would call it, his wings billowing over the opposite side so he didn't sit on them.

He jumped up when a loud knocking and shouting sounded, and did as the man did, placing his hands behind his head in a sure sign of surrender.

The men who walked in carried guns, Stark guns Tony realized, save from the one at the front who told him he had to build the missile, or else there would be consequences.

Tony said no.

They tortured him to say yes. They water boarded him, whipped him though the worst was yet to come. It was more of a precaution so that he couldn't escape.

They cut off his wings.

With a blow-torch.

The pain was immense, the sheer agony flowing through him like waves on a beach. There was no blood, the blow-torch cauterized the wounds, but the pain was still there.

He would fly no more.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

But now Tony was mad.

He, and his friend would escape and Tony knew just how to do it. It took time but he created the minitureised Arc Reactor, that would both keep his heart going and save both him and Yinsen (as he had found out).

Beginning the work on the suit that Tony had planned, they worked efficiently and if the Rings never noticed their work was not a Jericho missile, then they were in for a surprise.

Their deadline for escape bumped up when the obvious leader marched in and almost killed Yinsen to get the information out of him. That was the first time Tony saved him.

That day and night they worked their asses off as they worked to escape. Then the moment came the next morning when Tony was put into the suit and booted up, whist Yinsen (against the plan) tried to make time for the Stark.

Tony was waiting impatiently for the armor to boot up. It seemed to be taking forever, and that was a problem. All he could hear was gun fire, and he hoped Yinsen was ok.

Finally it booted up and the lights went out dramatically. The suit had taken all the power in the caves.

He fought his way toward the entrance as Yinsen had taught him with how many steps. Finally as he neared the opening to the outside world, he saw him.

There was Yinsen, lead on a load of bags, that held God knows what, and bleeding to death.

"D-dont waste y-your life Stark." Were his last words and after that what heppened next came in a blur. He burnt down his own weapons, and consequently the men inside, but Tony didn't care. He had to get away.

He activated the rocket boosters, though they didn't take him as far as he wanted, but he had gotten away.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

After Rhodey found him, the press conference,talking with Obadiah Stane and getting Pepper to place the new Arc Reactor, Tony began working on the suit.

This one would be less chunky and more high-tech than the mark I. Though the first time he took it out he was excited to be flying again but it just didn't feel the same.

He couldn't feel the air swishing past him, he couldn't hear it either. He was utterly grounded now. The Red Eagle was dead.

He flew higher, wondering if the suit could fly as high as he used to be able to, but it froze up before he reached the height. He landed through the roof, and told Jarvis to create a new one out of the Gold-Titanium alloy and to render it with hot-rod red. The colors were a reminder of his once glorious wings.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

Three days later found him fighting Obadiah Stane, in his Iron Monger suit. The armor was huge and bulky and when Tony had took off the helmet and one of the repulsors(which he now felt quite stupid for), he had no choice but to tell Pepper to overload the big Arc Reactor below and use his claws, which had manifested in his rage when his parents had died, to cling on to Stanes suit and rip out the wires that looked important.

The fight was over after the Iron Monger fell to his death in the Arc Reactor which exploded in fiery colors.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

"I am Iron Man"

Maybe he shouldn't of told everyone his identity but people couldn't moan about how he had stopped making weapons anymore, so that was a good side to this dark time.

But now Tony was being poisoned by the very device keeping him alive. He had a small healing factor and that probably gave him more time than he should of had, but he was still dying and, after giving the company over to Pepper, almost being killed in Monaco and getting so drunk that he blew up most of his house, he finally felt ready to give up.

But Fury just had to jump in.

So now he was fighting Vanko, along side Rhodey in the War Machine armor and he was fine. The Palladium had been replaced by a new element that his father had found years ago but kept secret, as if he knew it would save his sons life in years to come.

But they beat Vanko, saved everyone and Tony managed to get Pepper to finally be his girlfriend.

And now Tony was a consultant for Shields Avengers.

Great. Just great.


	3. You dont know me

When Tony was first called in by Agent (as Tony called him) he would actually admit that he was surprised. He and Pepper were celebrating the new Arc Reactor powering the whole of the ginormous Stark Tower, when Tony had a call. He had answered with a sarcastic comment, and the Shield agent had barged in, destroying their privacy.

He was apparently needed as an Avenger, which he was only supposed to be a consultant of. Reluctantly agreeing he started his 'homework' as Pepper got a ride with Phil (who he had found out his name wasn't actually Agent). The files were long and boring, but there was something he had easily recognised. The cube. The tessaract. The thing Howard, who hadn't even known about his sons great, though now non-existent wings, had found in the sea looking for the great Captain America.

This was going to be interesting.

FoHFoHFoHFoH

The second time he wasn't really called in. Jarvis, his AI whom was named after the great Edward Jarvis, alerted his to the fact that Loki, the one they were looking for, was somewhere in Germany.

Grabbing his next to newest suit he flew out, once again missing the wind flowing through his wings and the faint whistle as the air passed him.

Blasting ACDC through the speakers of the Quinjet flying around aiming its weapons at the God of Mischief, he landed dramatically, aiming his own weapons at the God, who raised his hands in the air in defeat.

When the Captain, who was standing next to him, greeted him, he nearly fangirled though managed to hold his excitement in,greeting him back in the plan drone of the armour speakers.

FoHFoHFoHFoH

When Thor had turned up Tony was jealous. This guy could fly. He needed no armour, no high tech repulsors to take to the skys. Tony used to be like that. No armour, no tech to fly, just his big powerful wings.

A while later, after he had greeted the team that consisted of Natasha (who he was still uneasy with after the assistant fiasco), Steve ( who was so innocent it was almost cute), Bruce (who seemed generally calm for a rage monster man), Thor ( or Point Break as Tony named him) and Tony himself, Tony had wandered down to the prison cell to talk to Loki.

The cell was huge and the great glass cage, which to Tony looked like a bug jar, sat above a large trap door.

"Your different to the others. They have all come and talked to me, asking why, but you. You are different alright."

Tony watched with his keen eyesight as Loki paced around, watching the Stark back. Tony hoped he wouldn't sat it aloud, the cameras in here had microphones and he wanted to keep his mutant life secret thank you very much.

"I'm the only insane one. Maybe that's what your picking up." He replied. It was true in certain aspects.

"Perhaps. Or maybe it's something else."

FoHFoHFoHFoH

It wasn't long before Loki escaped, Phil had just come to tell Tony to get back to his post when it happened. Thor came charging in as the Helicarrier lurched, and charged straight at Loki as he stood by the open door. That certain Loki turned out to be a holographic clone, which disappeared as Thor charged into the cage, whilst Loki locked it and sent it crashing to the ground.

Somewhere far off the Hulk roared.

Approaching the inventor and the agent in his warrior attire, Loki stabbed out with his spear, as Tony moved to protect Phil with his body, taking the blow to his right shoulder, crying out in the process as Phil picked up a huge gun from the corner, aiming for the God now stood over the bleeding Tony on the floor.

He fired sending Loki crashing through the wall in a few bright sparks. Then he turned to the only Stark left in the world who was still lead bleeding on the floor in a smallish red puddle around his shoulder area.

All Tony could feel was pain. The sceptre had been yanked out of his shoulder and his crimson blood was spilling slowly from the wound. He had turned his back to Loki when he was protecting Phil and the spear hadn't emerged from the opposite side.

He didn't notice when Phil turned him over to look at the wound, or when he worriedly called in the medics. He did notice though, when Phil asked him why he protected him.

"Your a friend," he paused, "don't go and tell people I'm going soft."

Phil laughed as the medics came through the door, instantly swarming the billionaire on the floor, and followed by Fury and what remained of the Avengers, aka Natasha, Steve and Clint, who had somehow rejoined their side.

"What in hells name happened!?" Ordered Fury to both Coulson and Tony, who was having his shoulder wrapped with bandages and moaning his head off about it.

"Loki attacked Stark after throwing Thor down to Earth sir." Phil lied, which Tony was grateful for, not that anyone but Tony noticed since Phil was a better lier than Natasha and Clint combined.

Standing and ignoring the protests from the medics, who wanted him to stay sat though Tony knew his healing factor helped him stand, healing him in half the time it took a normal person to heal. Which meant something that took a month to heal would take Tony only 2 weeks.

The remaining members of the team eyed him warily before Natasha decided to break the silence.

"Do you know where he is?"

Tony laughed as the others in the room gave him odd looks, he didn't know but then again...

"Loki's wants a audience. He's a full tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants lights, he wants a monument built in the sky with his name plastered on... That son of a bitch." He strided out of the room, leaving the others to follow him in confusion.

He walked into his and Bruce's lab with a purpose. He strided over to the computer, imputing code and whatnot.

"J search the tower for the energy signature matching the tessaract." He called out and the others finally got what Tony had been on about. Stark tower.

"Energy signature found. Would you like me to prepare the suit sir?" Jarvis replied from the ceiling. This made the Captain jump slightly and Phil protest.

"Stark you can't fly the suit with your shoulder like that!"

Tony smirked and turned toward the others, looking more confident than he felt.

"Then you don't know me."


	4. Magic and stuff

After a few protests from the others, Tony finally made it to his suit letting the plates of armour slide into place with relative ease. He winced slightly when the plating was pushed onto his damaged shoulder and he hoped the others didn't notice.

They didn't and soon Tony was flying high in the clouds, the Quinjet trailing behind him. The small gang in the jet consisted of the remaining Avengers,minus Tony, and Phil who now had a few guns and other weapons.

Taking off ahead of the jet, Tony landed on his disassembly pad and the mechanical claws grabbed the armoured plates, slotting them into the runway for later use.

He watched the Norse God as they both walked into the penthouse. Tony strode behind the bar, talking and threatening the God who dared to threaten back.

"You're so greatly unaware of what events will occur. You differences will come to light, in time." Loki said confidently, stepping towards the bar which Tony stood behind.

Carefully slipping on the homing bracelets to his newest suit, Tony stepped from behind the bar to in front of the smirking God.

"You will lose. There will be no cave, no small crevice that you can hide. They will come. And they,ll come for you."Tony growled out, taking another step toward Loki.

"How will they have time for me when they are so busy fighting you?!" Loki returned, reaching forward toward the geniuses chest with the end of the scepter, in order to control him. There was a metallic clink as the end connected with the Arc Reactor. Tony shivered, he felt something flow into him, yet he was still in control. Odd.

Loki tried again and, when again it didn't work, grabbed Tony by the throat, and threw him out the window. Yelling to Jarvis to deploy the armour, Tony felt a odd sense of happiness. He could again feel the air whizzing past him, whistling in his sensitive ears as he fell. It was all over when he was encased in the new red and gold armour, and he grunted when his shoulder was nudged none to gently as it attached itself.

He flew off, watching as the portal opened in the sky, unleashing chaos on the city below.

FoHFoHFoHFoH

The battle was harsh and Tony was beginning to become lightheaded. He must of pulled some of the hastily made stitches but the lightheadedness went away as his healing factor began repairing it.

Then he had the call from Fury.

A nuclear warhead was headed for New York, intent of blowing it, and the Chitauri sky high. Becoming panicked Tony flew off to grab it, knowing where it could without blowing New York up. He told the others who told him it was a one way trip. Tony knew this. He knew his fate and he felt relieved that, whilst he would die, his secret along with him, the others would survive. His team would survive.

So when he flew into the great, ominous portal he felt at ease with himself and the world.

FoHFoHFoHFoH

He was awoke by the loud roar of the Hulk who,when Tony opened his brown eyes, looked amazingly pleased with himself at the fact that he had saved his friend.

Looking around he could see the slightly worried face of Steve, his mask having been ripped off most likely by a Chitauri. He could also see Thor, who was watching like a eagle.

He made a few quips about kissing, taking a day and Shawarma before reluctantly rising to his feet. His shoulder ached like hell and he slowly reached up to take the helmet of his suit off,that seemed to be missing its faceplate.

They walked back to the tower,meeting Clint along the way, who gave Tony a proud clap on the back, only to wince when he hit the strong metal. Natasha was waiting for them, along with a now fully dressed Bruce, who as Hulk had hopped ahead of them and Phil, who looked as impassive as usual.

Together they rode up the elevator, Tony's private one, and ended up at the destroyed penthouse standing in front of the injured God sat on the floor.

He looked up when he heard the noise of the Avengers walking in, though he ignored the majority and instead turned to the billionaire.

"Good luck man of iron. You shall need it if they find out." He smirked when confused glances were made at Tony,who glared at Loki. And if looks could kill Loki would be dead as a dodo.

"I think you should take care yourself, reindeer games. I may have secrets but you're in trouble. And everyone has secrets." With this Tony turned around, walked back into the elevator and went down to his lab, leaving the others to restrain Loki.

Once he had got down there he ordered Jarvis to lock the door before taking the armour off and storming toward the mirror he had installed in the wall. Taking off his under suit so he was only wearing his jeans, and turned so he could just see his back in the reflective glass.

Along with his new shoulder edition of bandages, there were two jagged scars where his wings used to join to his back. They weren't very big,only slightly smaller than 15cm's and slightly raised to the rest if his back. He sighed.

What would happen if they did find out?


	5. Deja-vu

Two weeks later and you couldn't tell that there had been a alien invasion in New York. The streets were clean of rubble and the bodies of the Chitauri and Leviatians gone. Stark Tower was back to its old state, standing tall in the middle of all the smaller buildings surrounding it.

In fact the only thing that seemed to of changed were the occupants of the Tower itself.

All of the Avengers had moved in, minus Phil who wasn't technically a part of the team and more of their handler. Each Avenger had their own floor and beneath all the floors was a floor for the gym and a floor for the two labs of Banner and Stark.

Tony himself was quite happy with them being in the Tower. He had friends,people he could trust which, after Stane, Tony didn't do very well.

It was currently around six in the morning when Tony woke. Sitting up he muted Jarvis, who was trying to tell him the time and weather, and stretched. He wasn't to bothered when he felt a odd feeling in his back, putting it down as one of his aches.

Getting to his feet he walked into the bathroom, intent on cleaning his face and teeth, when he paused. Ever since the event of him growing wings Tony always had two mirrors, one facing the other, so that he would be able to see his back.

He almost yelled when he saw it.

Out of his back, almost directly on top of his old scars, were two bumps. The same bumps he had when he was ten.  
They were growing back.

Knowing he should be happy was no help to his panicking mind. They were going to see. They were going to find out. Loki was right, he was doomed if they discovered them. Hell he was doomed if Shield found out.

He ran back into the room, shoving the door shut as he almost ran toward his wardrobe, finding a pair of jeans and a black shirt and, finding the first aid kit, pulled out a roll of bandages, wrapping it around his chest, but leaving the Arc Reactor free. The team might worry if they couldn't see the blue glow.

Now that the bumps were hardly noticeable, he shrugged on his shirt and pulled on his jeans and, finding the time of flown to eight, made his way to the kitchen which they all shared.

The whole team was already in there, sitting around the island in the middle on stools. He walked up to the coffee machine and filled his cup with the steaming liquid, before taking his place in the last available seat.

"Morning."

He must of sounded either upset or grumpy because they all gave him odd looks before greeting him back.

"You ok Stark?" Asked Natasha who always seemed to know when something was wrong with the inventor, probably since she had worked for him whilst he was dying.

" 'm fine." He replied, taking another swig of his coffee whilst deleting the footage of him waking up and such on a tablet.

"So you found out what Loki meant by 'your secret'?" Asked Bruce, who was eating a bowl of cereal quietly.

Of course Tony knew what Loki meant. He had since he heard the words pour from the Gods mouth. He wasn't about to tell them though.

"Nope." He lied. Luckily no one realized he had lied,seeing as they were all either reading, eating or drinking. Picking up his cup, he made his way toward the elevator, traveling down toward his lab. His lab was separate to Bruce's, having a corridor between the two had been a great plan.

FoHFoHFoHFoH

A few days later and Tony was panicking. His wings were growing back at a extreme rate. When they had first grown, when he was only ten, they had grown with Tony, but now they were growing fast. They already reached his thighs and the red and gold feathers were now to hard to hide behind the bandages he had previously been wearing.

So when he came down to the kitchen the next morning, wearing his brown trench coat, he earned a few odd stares.

"Why are you even wearing that?" Questioned Steve, his head tilting to the side like a confused puppy as he watched the genius, who was perched on the stool away from them.

"It's cold." Was the only answer they received, though Clint obviously thought something was fishy.

" It's like twenty-three degrees in here Stark. How in hell are you cold!?"

Tony shrugged, not really knowing how to reply to that, instead opting to take a long sip of his now lukewarm coffee. In truth he was boiling, but he wasn't about to show off his currently short wings.

Bruce walked around to Tony and stared at him. Tony sighed.

"Ok I'm not cold. I just have to wear this for a meeting in..." He looked at his watch, "ten minutes."

"Then should the man of iron be gone?" Called Thor, and he was technically right, even though this meeting was non-existent and he was only going to see Pepper.

"I suppose Point Break." He acknowledged standing up and taking the lift down to Peppers office floor.

Opening the door, he walked in, his trench coat fluttering around behind him. Pepper was sat her desk, typing at the computer.

She looked up as the door opened, her eyebrows raising as she saw Tony wearing his old trench coat.

Seeing her confusing he hurriedly closed the door, calling out to Jarvis to turn the cameras and microphones off in the room, and to not let anyone in.

"They grew back." He said simply, walking up to her and taking his coat off on the way. Pepper gasped standing and walking over to him, stroking the metallic red and gold feathers spanning the currently short wings.

"Do they know?" She asked quietly, still stroking the soft feathers. He shook his head.

"I can't tell them. To them I'm the most normal, the most vulnerable on the team. It should stay that way."


	6. defeat is necessary in success

Tony was worried.

By the end of the week his wings were now fully grown, reaching down to his ankles. They were getting harder to hide and, even with the trench coat on, you could see a faint glimmer of red or gold when the metallic feathers caught the light.

So now Tony spent most of the time in his workshop, doors locked, windows blacked out and music blaring. He always had his long brown coat off, hung neatly on a nearby chair, as tony made adjustments to the Iron Man armour so that his wings would fit snuggly inside.

When that had been accomplished Tony began work on fixing up the new Red eagle suit. The old one he had burnt, not waiting a reminder of his old fighting alter-ego, and he now had to make a newer, and improved version.

The new suit was made of a bullet proof material, which coincidently blocked out the light from the Arc reactor, whilst keeping him safe from any unfortunate miss-haps. The helmet was made of the same Gold-titanium alloy of the armour, so that it wouldn't freeze in the heights he could easily fly at. The feathers of the helmet shone a metallic red, slightly lighter than his wing feathers and the beak of the 'Eagle' glinted a stunning gold. Inside the helmet the HUB was basically the same as the armour's, just without the energy levels which were instead replaced with a lip reading capability, for reading the lips of people he couldn't hear on the ground.

The voice of the 'Eagle' was similar to the armours, only it was deeper and a lot more terrifying. His wings were left bare, if they had anything protecting them he couldn't flex them probably and couldn't fly.

The team never bothered him on his long five day stay in the workshop, Pepper came down once or twice, seeing as she was the only person other than Tony who could unlock the door, and Tony would have to hide the Red Eagle suit before she came in, Jarvis would give him a two or three minute warning and the Eagle would slide silently into the floor, where it was kept under the metal panels. Once she was gone he would order the AI to bring it back up and continue his work on it.

When he finally went back upstairs to the large common room, clothed in a dark grey T-shirt, dark blue jeans and his brown trench coat, the former two being covered in grease from both the suits, he earned a few curious stares before he padded into the kitchen, grabbed another bag of coffee and trundled back down to the 'shop. He hadn't spoken to the team in a week now, not that he was bothered, but now once a day they would each walk up to the blacked out glass door of his workshop and try to open the locked door. But the door was both Hulk and Thor proof and none of the team had yet to get in.

They gave up in three days, probably finding better things to do than sit around waiting for him to emerge from his hideaway.

But right now Tony was upgrading Jarvis, the AI was offline, unable to communicate with his creator and thus Tony was left in silence, save for his AC/DC music playing in the background. He walked over to his coffee machine, intent on grabbing another to awaken him. He had slept, four days ago, when his team were still checking up on him, on the soft blue couch located in the corner of the room, away from all the mess of inventions.

Finding that he had no coffee left to devour Tony sighed, shrugged on his trench coat and padded his way toward the elevator. The tips of his wings were now touching the floor when he was bare footed, and he was having even more trouble hiding them every time he needed to go upstairs.

Padding out of the elevator, he paused in his motion toward the kitchen. There was no one around.

Had they been called on a mission?

Where were they?

Looking around in confusion, Tony met his answer in the face.

The dinging of the elevator, after he stepped out of it two minutes ago signalling its calling to another floor, was again repeated behind him and he turned. There stood Phil Coulson, looking as formal as ever, though he seemed slightly agitated.

"You've finally come out of that hiding place of yours." He said, looking at Tony with a sad smirk on his face.

Tony nodded in conformation "where are they?"

"They were sent on a mission two days ago. You hadn't responded to the call a-' He was cut of by Tony.

"I was fixing Jarvis." Phil nodded slightly, not surprised at the sudden outburst.

"They were looking for the Red Eagle. Numerous sightings have been called recently, and Shield has always wanted the vigilante to sign up. They bumped into a… organisation called AIM. The Ad-" He was again cut off.

"Advanced Idea Mechanics. I know." He had hacked Shield after all. And he had gone out in the Eagle once or twice, to check the systems in the helmet.

Phil rolled his eyes, "Anyway, they were seised by AIM and are being held hosting for a ransom that they ordered yesterday. Shield has no intention of filling this order, and thus we are organising a rescue," Tony was about to interrupt again, but the glare Phil sent was terrifying, "You are to stay here, locked in your lab until further notice. Take what you need, no one can get in there and they'll come after you."

Tony grunted, he had another idea up his sleeve. "So where are they being held, oh grumpy one?'

"In a old AIM complex just outside New York. The extraction team will be off in the morning." And with that he turned and exited the building.

Now alone Tony waited for the now empty elevator return, before returning to his la, locking the door behind him. He wasn't going to just sit around whilst his team was in danger. He took a few minutes rebooting Jarvis, who had now finished upgrading and was ready for mainly anything.

"J fire up the eagle." He called standing, arms crossed, as the bullet proof suit emerged from its hiding place under the floor, suspended in the air on a metal stand.

He shrugged off the trench coat, replacing it with the pure black costume, slipping on his black boots with red stripes down the side, and grabbing the beaked helmet slipping it on his head like the Iron Man one. he stretched his wings before refolding them behind his back and walked out his secret exit, hidden in the back of the room.

The door lead to a small runway like platform where Tony stood at one end, and ran full pelt to the other end, unfurling his great red and gold wings, flapping them and taking off at a high speed.

The feeing of the air beneath his metallic wings was exhilarating. The way he could feel them caressing the air like it was some sort of small puppy was amazing. But there was no time for those thoughts now.

Flying in the direction Jarvis told him the compound was in, he swooped and swerved around the buildings. It was the middle of the afternoon, and it was a rare sight to see the Red eagle flying in the daylight. Normally he would fly like a nocturnal animal, and not many would notice him.

But today he was flying in the bright daylight, and he watched as people stopped in the middle of the busy roads to film, point or just watch as the magnificent winged creature flew past in a hurry.

When he finally arrived at the complex where his friends were held, he landed gracefully, tucking his wings neatly behind himself as he went into his stealth mode of hiding in the shadows, which seemed to be his territory. he worked his way through the huge metal entrance easily, waiting for a truck to pass, the door opening, before slipping in.

Looking around from the large box he was hidden behind, he could see all the workers, dressed in what looked like beehive suits only bright yellow. He groaned. There was at least a hundred of them in the parking bay alone, and that was without the guards that were most likely stationed almost everywhere.

Slinking down a dark corridor he followed a beehive dude holding a gun and a key. Smelling the scent of his friends nearby with his keen sense of smell, he followed the man to a room. He hid around a corner as the beekeeper walked into the room, probably intent on checking the prisoners.

Once the man had returned from the room he turned to lock the door again. Seeing as no one else was around, Tony walked up behind the man and punched him in the head. The man fell to the ground and Tony opened the door and gazed in the room through the HUB of the helmet.

There was his team, each tied to the wall with strong metal restraints on their wrists and ankles which were then chained to the wall, stopping them from moving to each other. Thor, Bruce and Steve all had some sort of inhibitor collar on their necks stopping them from using magic, the Hulk and their strength respectively. The room in itself was dark and dingy, a single lightbulb hung from the ceiling, sadly lighting the room.

He was about to walk toward them, key in hand, to unlock their restraints and bust out of this dump, when he felt a small prick in his left wing, which he ignored as he turned around, only to see two other beekeepers blocking the only exit. They were each holding a gun, most likely a tranquilliser Jarvis inputted. Well that was worrying. Lifting up his left wing again, he wasn't surprised to see a lone dart poking out of it.

Tony suddenly felt woozy, teetering on his feet before falling to his knees.

Then his world went black.

FoHFoHFoHFoH

They had been there two days now.

The Avengers, minus Tony who was Thor-knows-where (actually he didn't so…), were all sat in a boring old cell. No one could use powers and they had taken any weapons or lock picks they had on them at the unfortunate time. They only hoped Tony was alright.

So when the AIM beekeeper exited followed but a soft thump of a body hitting the floor, they didn't know whether to be cautious or happy.

They watched in awe as the door opened, but that look turned to confusion when they saw the Red Eagle stood in front of them, and not their armoured comrade. He was as silent as the night as they watched each other, Avengers and Eagle, and his metallic red and gold wings were easy to see in the feeble light. The helmet was almost frightening, with a sharp beak and two glistening golden eyes surrounded by red metal feathers.

He took two steps toward them before he turned around as fast as lightning, but still keeping his silent touches to the elements around him. They made shocked faces as they same a tranquilliser dart producing from one of his wings, and watched as he fell to his knees, before slumping to the floor.

They stayed silent as he was hoisted up against the wall opposite the door. The others were all tied to the side walls. They placed cuffs on his ankles and wrists, but what made them cringe was that his hands were above his helmeted head and his feet were only just touching the floor. His wings were also restrained, chains were wrapped around them, immobilising the strong mutant.

FoHFoHFoHFoH

Tony woke up slowly and painfully. He had a headache the size of Mount Everest and that was when he realised that his arms also hurt, and he tried pulling them toward his, only to find them immobilised. He panicked, struggling around, before finally admitting defeat and opening his eyes.

He was met with sheer darkness. The visual and electrical feeds to the helmet must of been damaged when he fell but he could still hear the people outside, murmuring, before he heard one come closer.

"Lets see who the Eagle really is then." came a quiet voice and, knowing what was about to happen, started struggling about.

It was no use however, and they grabbed onto the manual releases easily, tugging the helmet off in one swift movement.

And suddenly his chocolate brown eyes met the shocked ones of the Avengers.


	7. Stay strong my Eagle

No one moved. The Avengers stared at Tony with surprise and confusion written across their faces as they gazed at him. He hung his head in shame, he hadn't wanted them to know and he was going to be asked a bombardment of questions as soon as the beekeepers left the still and quiet cell. It didn't take long for them to get bored and leave however, and it was a good ten minutes after their departure that Tony finally spoke.

"Hi." He murmured, still staring at the ground shamefully.

"Tony." The word came from Bruce, who looked the least shocked out of all of them as Tony lifted his head to watch their reactions.

"Why didn't you tell us Stark!?" The venom and horror in Natasha's voice made Tony want to run away. But he was chained to the wall tightly, and he therefore had to stay put, under the confused, hurt and mad gazes of his teammates. Tony opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again when he forgot what he was going to answer with. Instead he watched as Natasha glared at him.

"Natasha-" Clint finally spoke up, but was cut off by the other assassin.

"No Clint! I want to know why he didn't tell us! Didn't trust us to keep that certain secret!"

Tony was starting to panic and Bruce and Steve, who were still watching the genius, could see this clear as day.

"SHUT UP!" They roared, and suddenly the two assassins, who had been bickering, fell quiet. Thor still looked confused.

"I too wonder why the Man of Iron has not told us. But I fear if you continue yelling he may not talk at all!" Thor said, using his 'inside' voice, which was quieter than his normal volume but still relatively loud. Tony looked up and, seeing them all staring at him sighed.

"I didn't tell anyone. I didn't even tell Pepper I was the Eagle. Yeah she knew about the wings, but not about the other…activitys."

"But why haven't we noticed them before? You've only started wearing that trench coat recently. We would of seen." Clint asked, still slightly calmer than Natasha, though his anger was aimed at the other assassin who was making Tony panic.

Tony sighed. This was going to be a long conversation.

"When I was ten I woke up one random day, with a pair of bumps producing from my back. Mum and Jarvis found me on the bathroom floor. We never told Howard…." He paused and Steve took this as a opportunity to break in.

"You had a AI when you were ten?" Tony chuckled. Even in a bad situation Steve could still be so confused sometimes.

"No. Jarvis was the family butler. He was my best, and only friend. My AI was named after him. Anyway, Jarvis died when I was fifteen and mum and Howard died when I was seventeen. My wings were fully grown by then. Thats when I started as the Red Eagle. At first it was easy to hide the wings. But shortly after I hired Pepper, she walked in on me with no shirt on. Thats how she found out. Then in Afghanistan they tortured me." Tony shuddered and now Clint broke in.

"Water Boarding and Whipping right?" Clint murmured, though the look on Steve, Thor and Bruce's face was sheer dread.

"Yeah. But that wasn't the worst of it," Tony took a deep breath, knowing that what he now had to say would likely make the others either angry or guilty, though they really shouldn't, "They got a blow torch and they… cut them off." He looked down at the floor, the memory in his mind as he looked back up.

They all looked vaguely ill. Bruce had gone green, though whether that was the Hulk or he was feeling ill was a mystery. Steve, Thor and Clint looked horrified, and Natasha's anger seemed to of vanished, replaced by guilt and dread. they were all still staring at him, tears in some of their eyes. They all nodded at him to continue.

"Then two weeks ago, just after the invasion, the bumps came back. They grew quite fast into the wings I used to have and they're actually longer than they used to be." He said, slightly lightening the mood.

"But how did they grow back?" Questioned Steve, who looked a little green himself. Tony shrugged.

"I think that when Loki touched the Arc Reactor, instead of his magic controlling me it sped up my healing factor. Maybe he did this on purpose…" The last part Tony murmured to himself. He was well aware that Loki had known he was different, and he had most likely wanted to break the team apart.

The story telling was interrupted though by two beekeepers arriving, one pushing a trolly with what looked like weapons of torture laid across its metal top. Each of the avengers gulped, wondering who they would choose, and each knowing who it would be.

To their surprise the Beekeepers walked around the room, watching the Avengers though ignoring Tony, as if they were picking the best sheep from a flock. After five minutes Tony couldn't handle it anymore.

"You hurt them and you'll have to go through me first!" The venom was laced through his voice, and the Beekeepers turned around and, though Tony couldn't see their faces he knew they were having some kind of sick fun. They walked up to Tony and one unlocked his feet and arms, though left his wings still loosely chained. He pushed Tony forward, so that he now stood in the middle of the room, his wings forcefully pulled back. Tony didn't bother struggling, for the other beekeeper was holding a sharp blade to the part of his left wing that joined his back. And he didn't want to loose them again thanks you very much.

The other than grabbed Tonys arms, forcefully turning him around, and pulled the above his head, again chaining them to a free shackle in the ceiling. He also chained his feet again, and again Tony could barely touch the floor. Then they released his wings and he flexed them gently, before they were once again stretched out and chained either side of him.

Now he was facing the wall, and he could only see three of his teammates, Natasha, Clint and Bruce, the former two sitting near enough next to each other, whilst Bruce sat opposite. Steve and Thor were behind him, along with the one beekeeper who had held the knife to his wing. The top of his eagle battle suit was ripped off, revealing the scars on his back to the two behind him and the Arc Reactor to the three in front. The heard Steve and Thor gasp in both rage and horror at the scars, and Tony had to admit they were quite horrible. Because his new wings hadn't grown directly on top of the scars of his old ones, you could still see said scars running down his shoulders.

He heard a clank as something was picked up, and then saw the sheer shock on Clint's face before he almost cried out in pain. Almost anyway. he could hear the crack of the whip as it was brought down on his back and could feel the sharp sting as it made contact. The blood was running down his back now but the whip still kept falling. He only cried out in surprise when it hit the bridge between his back and the start of the red feathers, but after that he was silent. He bit his tongue once or twice and now the crimson liquid was pooling in his mouth, overpowering his tastebuds with the taste of metal.

He never noticed when the whip failed to fall. He never heard when the door slammed as the beekeepers left the dark room. He never smelt the fear rising in the scents of his friends.

But he heard them.

He heard them calling his name. His team- no his friends were calling his name in utter despair as the blood continued to drip down his back and pool on the floor.

Slowly, slowly he became aware again. He shook his head in discomfort, rising it weakly to see his teams shocked faces. Sometime they had all been moved in front of the genius, billionaire, philanthropist, mutant and they all seemed worried enough to clog the air with the sweet scent.

" 'm fine" He murmured woozily, the world spinning around him.

"No you're not Stark. We're not stupid you know." Came the commanding, yet soft voice of the Black widow. Seeing Tony was nearly asleep Bruce decided he needed to do something.

"Tony you need to stay awake. Please!"

Tony tried. He really did. But his instincts told his body to shut down and he saw the terrified faces of his team before the world went black.


	8. Flying On High Is Normal When You Are A Bird

Bruce felt sheer anger and panic raising in him when Tonys head dropped, his pained chocolate eyes disappearing behind closed eyelids as he fell into the oblivion of unconsciousness. The others were still trying to wake up the winged genius, but to no avail. The pool of scarlet blood was inching across the floor, luckily toward the door and not the conscious Avengers. The flow of the precious liquid was slowing down, and Bruce was starting to calm his panic.

Then, out of nowhere, their cuffs were unlocked from the wall, and they could all suddenly move their hands and feet. They each climbed to their feet and scurried over to Tony, who was still strung up. Then, like the others, his bindings suddenly released him, and he was almost sent tumbling to the floor, though Steve and Thor managed to catch him before he hurt himself further. Tony let out a murmur of pain as he was lowered to the floor gently, lead on his front out of the pool of blood, to prevent further damage to his back and wings.

They all wondered why they had suddenly been released. Thor stood and tried to open the door, but his effort was wasted. With the collars on neither he or Steve could use their strength, which was why they both had to catch Tony. He returned to where they were all gathered, sat in a circle around their injured and unconscious teammate. Thor sat next to Steve, who was sat next to Bruce, who was sat next to Natasha, who was sat next to Clint, who completed the circle.

To their surprise Natasha gently reached out and stroked Tony's left wing which was stretched out to her side between her and Bruce. The feathers were soft to the touch, almost like stroking a smooth, short furred cat. She continued doing this for five minutes, just gently stroking the red and gold feathers that, since Tony had fell unconscious, seemed rather dull in colour. Whether it was the light or Tony's condition though was a mystery all together.

Whilst Natasha was petting the wing, Bruce was using his spare shirt (because he was the Hulk and he always ended up needing one), which he tore into strips, to wrap around Tonys torso and back, though once he was finished the Arc Reactor was still visible, casting a blueish glow over the occupants of the small room.

It was a while later when the team were talking, when Tony awoke. At first they had thought the shifting noise was a rat or something, until they noticed Tonys wing twitching. They watched as his deep brown eyes made a appearance, before closing again as Tony groaned, then reopening. He tried pushing himself up into a awkward sitting position, but Thor ended up helping as Tony kept collapsing back onto the floor. When he finally sat up his face had gone a paler colour in the blue light and his wings were folded at a odd angle against the floor.

Tony warily smiled at them, trying to reassure them, but making it worse when he grimaced. As soon as he had moved Bruce had almost leapt forward, until Tony gave him a odd look, and he backed down.

"You alright?" Tony asked, and they all gave him disbelieving glares. It should be them asking him not the other way around. They nodded anyway, trying to reassure their injured teammate.

Suddenly Tony jumped to his feet and staggered over toward the door. Almost immediately the others followed, ready to catch the swaying genius at a moments notice if he fell. When Tony reached the for however, he leant on the wall and lifted one foot up, beginning to paw at the boot. The others were confused until Tony somehow managed to open a hidden hatch in his heel, revealing a lock pick. The other Avengers suddenly realised that, whilst they had been disarmed and now had no weapons at all, they had only taken Tonys belt, which held two guns, a grappling hook and various other items, and hadn't bothered to search the rest of him. They must of thought he would be to weak to move after the whipping session, let alone walk. But they were wrong and here was Tony, working almost effortlessly to get the door open.

When the door clicked open after two or three minutes they all let out a breath they hadn't realised they were holding. Motioning for them to follow him, Tony raised his nose in the air, trying to catch the odd scent of their weapons and such. He trotted down the hallway, not staggering once, and stopped abruptly, pinning his back to the wall with a grimace, and the others quickly lined up next to him, awaiting to see if anyone was coming. A AIM beekeeper, oddly without his helmet on, walked casually around the corner, fortunately looking down at a tablet as he turned the corner towards their cell.

Then, as fast as lightning, Tony acted, leaping at him in one graceful swoop before grabbing him by the neck and pushing against the wall. The others could only watch in shock as Tony held the man to the wall, one hand on his throat and one in front of his face, his claws lengthening threateningly.

"Where are our weapons!?" Tony hissed at the man, who let out a audibly gulp, before pointing down the hallway to the right. Tony dropped him to the floor, where he gasped for air before falling unconscious as Clint kicked him upside the head. Tony again lead the way, sometimes pausing to sniff the air or just listen before continuing on. It was clear to his teammates that Tony was in pain, for his wings were twitching once in a while. They continued on however, though kept a strict eye on the genius as if he would collapse any minute.

Giving them a hand signal to stay where they were, Tony cautiously opened a door embedded in the steel wall. He breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door fully, revealing their weapons and other objects, including some AIM gear and a few items of clothing that probably belonged to other past prisoners. They all trundled in, closing the door behind them knowing they would be able to see as there was a more powerful lightbulb hanging innocently from the ceiling. They grabbed their their things, only to realise that Thor couldn't pick up his hammer. The collars were blocking out Thor's magic and strength so Mjolnir probably didn't realise that it was Thor trying to pick it up.

Tony fumbled around and, spotting a few sets of keys on the wall, walked up to Thor and began working out which key fitted through trial and error. Sometime Tony had found a shirt that covered the Arc light, his weapons belt, which was now tied around his waist and his beaked helmet, which was sat innocently on the floor as Tony fumbled with the keys.

The collar soon came off and Tony repeated the process with Steve and Bruce, finally leaving the collars under a pile of clothing in the corner so it wasn't known that they were free of them. Finally he picked up his helmet and, nodding to the team, started fiddling with the wires, picking up new ones when they were needed from a box next to him. They stayed there for a good fifteen minutes as Tony worked, before he finally let out a small cheer and put the helmet on.

Almost immediately the sensors came on, showing his teammates impressed looks, before he walked toward the door, using both his sense of smell and the heat sensors to determine whether it was safe to venture forth. Once Tony was positive that they could go, they walked out one by one and followed Tony down the route which he had entered from.

When they got to the huge AIM tank part next to where Tony had first snuck in, they snuck silently into the back of a moving truck, which luckily only contained weapons, and waited. It stopped once as the driver was checked, and then 2 minutes later it stopped again, and they felt the truck jolt slightly as the driver exited the cab. They each leapt out, Tony insisted he go first and was quickly followed by the rest of them.

Then Tony realised something. And that something caused a huge problem.

They were still inside the wired fence surrounding the compound.

This wouldn't of posed such a problem if Tony was on his own or uninjured. He had flown here to begin with. But now he had his team with him and, yes Thor could fly himself out and both Tony and Thor could probably lift the others over, but Tony's back was injured and any small movement from his wings caused a sickly pain in his back. Thor could probably carry the others one by one, but Tony had no luck. Thor wouldn't be able to pick the genius up without touching his back or wings, which would cause him pain.

"Thor can you lift the others over the fence? One at a time?" He asked, looking around for the exit that the trucks would take out of this hellhole.

"Of course my friend!" And with that Thor lifted Steve and threw his hand containing his hammer in the air, taking off and landing on the other side, where he abruptly, but gently, dropped the super soldier before returning and picking up the next Avenger.

It continued like this for a few minutes, and now all that was left on the other side was Tony. Thor tried to pick him up, but stopped just before he touched his back. Tony shook his head.

"You go. I'll find another way out." But Thor had other plans on his mind and threw tony over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, his wings and back not touching the God once. The jolt when Thor flew up and over the fence was odd. It was unlike when he took off with his wings, and more like the jolt when a aeroplane takes off. Aka not fun.

Tony swayed when Thor put him down, but quickly stood up straight when the team gave him worrying looks.

Oh this was going to be a long, long walk back to the Tower.


	9. Sleep is the time of Silence

The walk wasn't as long as it seemed. To most of them it seemed like hours when it was truly only a mere fifty minutes. The walk was mainly done in silence, save for the questioning of Tony's health every once in a while. By the time they were five minutes from the tower, from home, which they only had to walk around a corner to, Tony was swaying almost rythmatically on his feet. But when they were about to turn the last corner toward the tower Tony stopped, causing the others, who were behind him to suddenly stop as well.

"I need to get up there without anyone seeing." He said pointing toward the Iron Man disassembly pad, because yeah his wings were still seeable and yes he still had the helmet on. So far the Avengers had done their best to avoid people, and Tony had constantly been turning any CCTV cameras near them off, but the Red Eagle couldn't be seen walking into Stark Tower.

"I could lift you Friend Stark!" Called Thor, and he was quite quiet for the God of Thunder. Tony grimaced, not that anyone noticed as they couldn't see his face, but Thor was right. There was no other way for him to get up there so he carefully walked up to the Norse God, who picked the swaying genius up gently, and flew up landing, gently on the even surface of the landing pad. Tony waved him in thanks, before instructing him to join the others. It would be best if they were all seen together entering the building, and Tony really needed to change what remained of his suit into something more comfortable.

Grabbing his spare clothes out of his bedroom, Tony trotted, swaying and having to grip the walls at some moments, into the elevator, which tok him down to the labs. He slowly walked into his lab, not bothering to lock the door, before near enough collapsing on one of his comfy stools. Having wings had always been a problem with sitting in chairs with backs and, in the rare occasion he had to put up with it he had always shifted uncomfortably in the seat.

He reached into a draw in his nearby desk, pulling out a few rolls of bandages and gently unwrapping the crude imitation that one of his team, most likely Bruce, had pulled around his back and torso. He winced as the torn strips of T-shirt came loose from where they were stuck to his back with blood, and fell of the stool when he heard a loud knock from the door which had closed behind him. The pain arched through his body as his wings and back collided with the unforgiving tiled floor.

He had just enough time to see his team almost running toward him before his world went black.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

After Thor had rejoined the group, the team took a deep breath each before turning the corner. They were instantly bombarded with the press, who were asking so many questions that they all sounded like a group of angry bees. They slowly pressed through the crowd, intent on getting into the tower as fast as possible. It didn't take as long as they thought it had and soon they were all bundled into the lift.

"Jarvis wheres Tony?" Bruce called out as the elevator started to rise steadily.

"Mr. Stark is currently in his lab." The AI replied, and Clint ordered him to take them up there.

They all rushed out of the elevator as soon as the metal doors opened to reveal a long corridor. Walking up to the door of Tonys lab, of which the windows were now clear, they could see the genius' back, now free of the crude imitation of bandages, and the red and gold wings which were still twitching.

Thor, who had thought the door was locked, knocked on the strong glass door. When they noticed that Tony hadn't heard the God knocked louder, and this time the door swung open, hitting the wall. The loud crash the door made as it collided with the unforgiving concrete wall was so loud that Tony jumped, and the whole team watched as he fell of in his state of panic, falling backward onto the floor.

They all started to panic, rushing toward the mutant genius, sitting in a circle around him as Steve gently turned the man onto his front. He was unconscious which both made it harder and easier for Bruce to wrap the new bandages, that were on the table, around Tonys middle, Natasha and Clint supporting the injured billionaire when the elevation was needed. Once Bruce was finally done Thor picked Tony up, for the third time that day, and they all followed the Thunder God into the elevator, riding it to the floor where Tonys bedroom was.

None of them had ever seen any of Tonys floor of residence, so it came as a surprise when they saw just how basic the geniuses room really was. They all smiled when they saw the duvet covering the bed was decorated with a red and gold patching and, looking around the room they were all in for a surprise.

Apart from the bed there was little else in the room. One of the walls was an entire window and the floor was carpeted with a soft cream carpet. There was Tonys wardrobe in the corner, though that took up another wall, and there was a door that lead to the adjourning bathroom. There was a few random sofas dotted around but that was about it.

Thor laid Tony gently on the bed so that he was laid on his back. Tonys unconscious form seemed to recognise the surface it was on, and the genius almost instantly fanned his wings out to their full length, nearly hitting the other avengers, before they tucked in laying sprawled across the bed. The sight would be rather comical, had Tony been uninjured and comfortable, which the jeans he had shifted on didn't really look. The team dotted themselves around the room, Bruce sitting next to Tonys bed, Steve and Thor each taking up a armrest whilst Natasha and Clint stole the lone sofa.

It was a while until Tony woke, and when he did hardly anyone noticed. They had all fell asleep in their positions. Tony blinked, wondering how he had got here from his lab, when he remembered just why he had fell of the stool in the first place. Slowly, careful to not harm his back or to wake the others, Tony got to his feet, where he stood confidently and watched as his team slept. Thor and Steve were now each curled up on their armrests, Bruce had sometime fell asleep in a sitting position and Clint and Natasha were curled up together. Tony almost laughed and quietly ordered Jarvis to take pictures of the team, for future blackmail.

Once this was done he slowly crept out the door, giving one last smile before turning off the light and shutting the door.


	10. Sleepy Eagle

When the team eventually awoke, they each became panicked as they realised that Tony had disappeared. Bruce frantically checked around the bed, making sure the Stark hadn't fell, but he couldn't find the winged genius anywhere. Once this was clear they all spread around the tower, searching high and low for their injured team mate.

They searched every room, double checking and triple checking before they all decided to meet in the kitchen which, in a odd coincidence, none of them had checked. They all walked in as one, only to stop in their tracks when they noticed Tony perched innocently on one of the stools surrounding the island, one hand cradling a mug of coffee whilst the other was tapping away at a StarkPad lain on the table.

He must of heard them come in for his head was raised, eyes watching them expectantly as his metallic plumage glinted in the light entering through the windowed wall. His feathers were ruffled like a pidgeon trying to show its authority to another bird or when it was cold. The others weren't sure which so instead of questioning they each took a stool, watching Tony's fingers as they almost seemed to glide over the tablet he was working on as his attention returned to his work.

Looking over his shoulder Bruce, who had sat himself next to Tony, could see that the genius was working on the suit, most likely trying to make it accommodate his great wings. Noticing Bruce, and the rest of the team, watching him Tony sighed, stopping what he was doing and placing his mug down after taking a sip of the now lukewarm coffee.

"Have a fun time playing Hide-and-Seek?" He asked, amusement edging its way into his voice as he watched them. "You could of just asked J."

Suddenly the Avengers, minus Tony, all felt fairly stupid. They had been wondering around looking for the resident genius, when all they had actually had to do was ask the AI where the Stark was. Tony started laughing, presumably at the faces they were all making as each realised just how stupid they had been when panicking for the whereabouts of the inventor.

By the time Tony had finished cackling, his wings shaking as he tried to suppress the laughter though failing, each of the Avengers (including Tony) had a piece of toast in front of them from Steve, who was normally the resident cook of the team. Since they had all decided that the only thing Tony was aloud near was the coffee machine, as he had set fire to the kitchen whenever he tried to cook, and Thor wasn't even aloud near any kitchen appliances, Steve had taken it upon himself to cook for each team member in the tower. Though Tony usually needed to be dragged from his workshop to eat.

But now they all sat in contented silence, each chewing on their slice of toast and taking sips of their coffee that Bruce had made. The only noise was that of Tony's fingertips touching the tablet he was working on with a practiced speed.

That was until Jarvis' voice rang out over the speakers.

"Sir Director Fury is currently making his way up the elevator." Came the cool, calm and collected voice. Upon hearing those words Tony leapt up and ran into the common room, where Loki had previously became a new indent in the floor. They all followed the genius with a quickened pace only to find him looking around frantically whilst calling out to Jarvis to slow the elevator.

"Looking for something?" Bruce asked, holding up Tony's trench coat which had been draped over a nearby chair. Tonys eyes brightened as he walked over to Bruce.

"You are a lifesaver Bruce." He said, taking the black coat, his old brown one had gotten wrecked a while ago, and shrugging it over his shoulders, just in time for the elevator doors to open and both Fury and Phil to walk out. Fury glanced around at them, his one eye casting a annoyed look at Tony who, along with Clint, was laughing his head off.

"Where in gods name have you been!?" Fury asked, still glaring at Tony and Clint who were still laughing. 

"You know very well where we were sir." Said Clint, who had seemed to of sobered from his laughing fit. Tony had stopped too, but he still let out a few chuckles.

"Of course the Director does. The question is how did you escape?" Questioned Phil, who cast a stern glance in the direction go the still chuckling billionaire.

"We-" Started Natasha only to get cut off by Tony, who now had a serious look on his face.

"I saved their sorry asses." He boasted, grinning like a child at christmas. Fury turned a odd shade of red at that.

"You were ordered to stay here Stark." He growled, before turning on his heel and walking back into the elevator, dragging Phil along with him.

They all let out a audible sigh of relief. The tension in the room was so high that it seemed hard to breathe. 

Once Jarvis had announced that Fury had left the tower Tony almost immediately shook his trench coat off and unfurled his wings, almost hitting Clint in the face with the strong appendage. Said archer glared at said billionaire, before huffing and plonking himself on the nearest sofa. The others joined him, Tony sitting on the closest seat to the edge of one sofa, his wings hanging on the other side. They all gave him odd looks but never said a word when Tony ordered Jarvis to dim the lights and play the movie, 'Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol'. They all agreed that Brant looked exactly like Clint, apart from the archer himself, who blatantly refused the case.

One movie lead to another and, by the time it was 9'oclock, there was 6 sleeping Avengers scattered around the room on the sofas and armrests.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

Unsurprisingly, Tony was the last to wake up the following morning. When the Bruce and Clint, who had made sleeping residence next to the genius, had moved Tony had slipped from his seemingly uncomfortable position to lay his full length over the sofa. Even Natasha had to admit he looked younger. His feathers were all ruffled again, and the wings they were attached too were draped over the genius like a blanket.


	11. Fluffy Hugs

For the rest of that morning the awake Avengers tried to avoid waking the sleeping genius, who was still positioned on the couch, though one wing had fell off the sofa, the gold feathers at the tip of the wing lightly touching the newly carpeted floor. They were so good at not waking Tony, that he was still asleep when Steve began making lunch, only then waking when Pepper came through the door, walked up to him and yelled in his ear.

This sent of a almost spontaneous reaction from Tony, who's chocolate eyes sprang open as he started. He had been so surprised that he fell off the comfy thing he was laid upon, and onto the floor, luckily wings up. standing he grinned at his Co-CEO who was scowling at the winged genius who, sometime when they were looking for him presumably, had taken off the bandages wrapped around his wings, to reveal that the injures had healed drastically in the past few days.

"You have missed four meetings." Said Pepper pointedly.

"Thats not as bad as normal." Tony said, sure he was right. But when Pepper continued to scowl at him he knew there was something else on her mind.

"And thats only today." Pepper continued, and Tony visibly gulped at the fact. Behind Pepper, whose back was to the kitchen, stood the other Avengers, who were each either cackling, chuckling or plain laughing (that was Thor. You do not want to stand near him when he laughs…). Tony, noticing this, sent a look toward them, and they all shut up, apart from Clint, who was still cackling.

"uh… hehe…" was all the answer that Pepper got, before the genius decided to run off into the elevator, pressing the buttons quickly before Pepper could catch him. He stuck his tongue out as the door closed, right in Peppers face. Now the Co-CEO looked like she would strangle the billionaire-child, but then her angry posture disappeared as she calmed down.

"Jarvis bring the elevator back." She called out to the AI, who complied. A few seconds later the elevator dinged and a disgruntled Tony Stark walked out, looking for all the world like a bird that had been attacked. His hair was so ruffled that it looked like a nest, and his wings were fluffed.

"And where were you going without this?" Pepper called to him, letting up the trench coat in her hand. Tony grumbled and decided it wasn't worth the effort, so instead he trotted into the kitchen and plonked himself down on a stool, after grabbing a mug of coffee of course.

The others all gathered around the table, including Pepper, and chatted idly for a while.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

After half an hour they seemed to get bored and started asking questions. Steve, not knowing that Pepper didn't know about Tonys extra curricular activities, asked how long the Red eagle had existed. Pepper had a look of disbelief on her face as she watched Tonys reaction carefully. His face, which had been calm and thoughtful a few moments before, was now panicked and his brown eyes were wide. As soon as he saw her looking however, one of Tony's non-emotional masks fell upon his face, and he instead concentrated on his coffee.

"Why would Tony know about the Red Eagles activities?" She asked calmly, eyeing Tony who was still staring at his coffee. Steve, probably noticing his mistake, stood rather quickly and made his exit, muttering something about the gym. Sure enough the rest of the team hastily followed, until all that remained was Pepper and Tony. Tony, apparently realising that the others had gone and Pepper was watching him, looked up and met her eyes.

And so the inventor began to tell her how the Eagle came about. How his mothers sudden death had forged something deep inside his heart and how he only wanted to help people in need. He told her how he would sneak away at night, under the guise that he was working in his lab, when really he was flying on high with the birds. He told her how, that when Pepper found out about his wings, he was terrified that she would find out about his other activities. 

He told her how Coulson came to him, telling him how the Avengers had been hero-napped, how he had been ordered to stay in his lab, placing it on lockdown, until they had found the team. 

He told her how he had disobeyed, flying out in broad daylight to find his friends. How he had also been captured, and how the team had accidentally found out and how they had escaped. How they had walked home, tired but victorious. And finally how he was feeling guilty about not telling her, his Pepper Potts, that he not only had one, but two alter-egos.

When he had finished his long and tiresome speech he hung his head in shame, not wanting to see Peppers face. Pepper herself was shocked, but managed to realise easily that Tony was upset, and instead walked over to him and gave him a hug which he stood for, wrapping his great red and gold wings around her in a strong embrace.

The team had been watching though feeds from Jarvis in the common room, and each felt sorry for the resident inventor, who had openly expressed his feelings and who was obviously thinking that they would hate him for his differences. They slowly entered the kitchen and each joined in with the hug, each wrapping their arms around the genius, billionaire who they all cared for.

Once they were all within range, Tony shifted his wings, encompassing them all in the soft feathers of his underwings.


	12. Falling is a Catastrophe

A few days after that particular event found the Avengers aboard the Helicarrier, all perched on seats around the huge table where they had all first met, apart from Clint that is (But Clint's special). They were all looking on different levels of boredom, from playing Rock, Paper, Scissors (Clint and Natasha), to hacking Shields files (Tony).

Tony was uncomfortable to say the least. The chairs in the room all had backs and his wings were folded oddly, covered by his black trench coat as he attempted, and succeeded, to hack into Fury's shield file and change things. He changed his personality to 'You do not want to mess with him', his age to 100, and his profile's picture to one of a my little pony with a eye-patch. 

He earned a stern glare from Fury himself when the genius started laughing loudly, and Clint, who was sat next to the billionaire, peeked over his shoulder, and began to laugh as well.

Fury cleared his throat and the silence fell in the room, engulfing the slight chuckles still radiating from the pair. 

"The Red Eagle." Fury began, letting a hologram appear in the middle of the table, revealing a picture of said hero, posed in a fighting stance, gold eyes of the helmet glaring at some unknown foe as his great wings spread out defensively behind his back. Tony tried not to make a face at the picture. That certain night had only been yesterday, and he had been stopping a gang of thugs from attacking a young woman and her boyfriend. Admittedly the hologram did look threatening, but that hadn't been the point of the stance in the first place.

"This happened last night." Fury continued pointedly, pressing a button on the computers behind him as the hologram began playing.

Three men walked into the picture, fists clenched and glaring straight at the mutant in front of them, who was guarding the young couple behind him. All of a sudden one of the men leapt forward with a battle cry, aiming for the chest of the winged man in front of him. The Red Eagle turned fast as lightning, grabbing the mans swinging arm and tossing him back toward his friends, making one of them fall over when the man fell upon him.

Tony winced, knowing what was about to happen next and then realised why there was a lot of agents in the room, each holding a gun. He gulped, but continued watching.

The remaining man yelled something at the Eagle, before charging straight at him. The Eagle once again dodged to the side, but failed to notice the knife that the man was holding, which swiped across the winged mutants chest.

Revealing a soft blue glow.

The video stopped on the revealing visual, as Tony sensed two agents come up behind him, and the fact that almost everyone in the room was staring at him.

"uh…." Tony stood, turning to face the agents with steely eyes. They almost backed off, though held their position quite tightly, staring with disbelief at the genius in front of him. Tony sighed, turning back toward Fury with the same steel glare.

"What?" He demanded, watching as all heads in the room turned toward the director of shield.

"Take the coat off Stark." Fury commanded, watching the movements of the billionaire with a sharp gaze. 

Tony glared at him, a comeback of 'can't wait to get me naked then Nick?' on his tongue, but he muffled the urge and instead slowly shrugged the black trench coat off his shoulders, throwing it on the chair he had previously been sat on whilst unfurling his wings, hitting a few agents in the face, giving one a nose bleed. He smirked at that.

He noticed Fury nod to someone behind him and instantly felt the cold muzzle of a gun against each wing. They weren't trying to kill him. They needed him. The Eagle.

All of a sudden Tony took in a deep breath, closed his eyes and howled. The howl wasn't one of calling or pleading, it was one of pain. One of the agents guns had gone off, the one holding the gun to his right wing, and the other agent had also set theirs off, the bullet piercing Tonys left wing.

The billionaire snarled, rage and pain building up in his mind as he instantly flexed his wings strongly, sending the two agents into the wall with the force of the hit. Tony turned, the pain overriding his common-sense as he charged at the metal doors, slamming into them with such force that the metal broke, fragments flying everywhere. Some of the shards imbedded themselves in the mutants wings, which had already been dripping blood from the bullet holes.

The fragments didn't seem to bother Tony in his worked up state as he ran out of the room, turning the corner toward the bay doors.

The other Avengers were now running after their pained team-mate and, after giving five simultaneous glares at Fury, realised just where Tony was headed.

He was going to try and escape.

By flight.

They all knew it would be disastrous and the fact that Tony had one hole in each of his wings didn't exactly reassure them. They all hopped frantically in the Quinjet, knowing where Tony was going and not bothering to check as they zoomed off, watching out for Tony.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

Tony's mind was a mess to say the least.

It was filled with rage and pain and all he really knew was that he had to get out, had to escape.

So he did what any bird would do in a frightful situation. 

He flew.

Or at least tried.

After jumping off the Helicarrier landing strip his smart mind seemed to get through his instincts and Tony panicked even more when he realised that he wasn't flying.

He was falling.


	13. Silver Circuits

Tony was panicking big time now.

His mind seemed to clear at the realisation that he was falling to probably his death. He stretched his wings out, in a attempt to slow himself down somewhat, but the bullet holes in the large wings let the air through so he continued to fall, at a somewhat slower pace.

He closed his eyes, not wanting to watch the ground meet his body in a undignified collision of force.

The next thing he knew he had hit something solid with his back and his arms had been grabbed by two people. The relief in his mind was immense, and opened his eyes to thank his team for saving him, only to have a big surprise waiting for him.

It wasn't the Avengers.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

The whole team were looking for their genius friend from the Quinjet, Thor had jumped out and flew around, looking for even a glimmer of the red and gold feathers.

"There!" Called Steve, who was looking out of the open back end of the jet. He was pointing toward the figure of Tony, wings stretched out and flailing as he realised that he couldn't fly. Clint swirled the jet around, just in time for him and Natasha to see a plain silver copter similar to the Quinjet, grab Tony and haul him on board.

Knowing that the jet was most likely not theirs and was an enemy, Clint steered the jet after the other, yelling to the team in the back to sit down as he closed the back door. The Quinjet flew at a high speed after the opposing jet, which was picking up speed and was definitely not their own, nor was it a friendly vehicle.

Clint managed to get the jet side-by-side to the other one, and opened a side door of the Quinjet, allowing Steve and Thor (Who had climbed back into the jet) to pull off the door to the other copter like thing.

What met their eyes made them feel sick.

In front of them were the beekeepers from AIM and a woman. The woman was holding a large empty syringe in one hand, and they were all watching Tony, who was writhing about on the cold hard floor of the jet. Whatever they had injected him with was hurting him, and Steve and Thor, closely followed by Natasha and Bruce, charged into the other plane, lashing out at the people inside. Natasha and Bruce grabbed Tony from the floor, where he was still flailing about, and carried him into the Quinjet carefully, laying him on the floor of the friendly jet.

Steve and Thor however, continued to fight the beekeepers, and grabbed the woman, who had dropped the syringe in terror, dragging her onto the Quinjet as well. Steve yelled an all clear to Clint, who instantly closed the door and flew off at a high speed.

"What did you do to him!?" Natasha demanded, glaring at the woman as the assassin held Tonys head, whilst Bruce was trying to hold Tonys arms and legs down to stop him from hurting anyone. The winged man's eyes were closed, scrunched up in either pain or the actual chemical itself.

"Extremis." She replied shortly, watching the flailing mutant with a smile, "He helped us, and we helped him."

They all (apart from Clint who was flying the jet) gave her a confused glare, but before anyone could say anything Tony yowled in pain and their attention was drawn to their friend.

After Tony had yowled he had stopped moving, stopped flailing around, and opened his eyes. They weren't the usual chocolate brown that they were used to and instead the pupils were blown wide, covering the brown iris.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" He cried, again starting to twist and turn as he brought his hands up to his head and curled up in a ball, wings raising protectively around him. Natasha gently brought Tonys hands away from his head, and whispered in his ear. All of a sudden Tony stilled again, his pupils retracting and revealing the brown again. He sighed in relief and uncurled himself, struggling to sit up.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

As soon as the needle of the syringe entered his arm and the plunger was pushed down, releasing the vile compound into his bloodstream, Tony screamed. He flared his wings out as his mind was assaulted by information.

Said information was from everywhere, from satellites to computers, from computers to the internet. It was all swarming into his mind and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He was unaware when he started flailing, the pain of the information immense and taking over his motions.

Then suddenly he could hear a voice. It was female and mysterious. Natasha then.

He opened his eyes blearily and blinked as his vision cleared. He could still access the information, but it was a low hum in the background of his now very aware mind. He could feel the pain in his wings and instantly knew they would heal and he would fly.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

Tony watched his friends faces, scanning their every move, until his eyes fell upon the woman, Maya Hansen. He shakily stood, dragging himself up to his full height and flaring his wings out. He looked at the red and gold feathers. They now had a pattern on them, it was like the brilliant lines on a circuit board, and the sliver lines shimmered.

He glared at Maya.

"You shouldn't of done that."


	14. Chapter 14

After that certain event most things returned to normal.

Steve was still the great leader he had been before, though now he argued less with Tony, seeing the geniuses point in most situations, making battles and missions more easy going and their plans more thought through. Steve admired Tonys courage in most situations, how he would stand up for his team, even if it meant that he himself got hurt in the process.

Bruce was less wary of the Hulk and his own potential problems, knowing that Tony had suffered his differences far longer than the other scientist. The fact that the Hulk and Tony got along was helpful as well. The billionaire could easily calm the other guy in stressful times, when the calm, peaceful side of Bruce Banner was needed more than the destructive side. 

Clint still pulled pranks on Tony, though pulled more dangerous ones now, knowing that if Tony were to be startled on the roof he would just fly back up with a scowl written across his face. Tony also sometimes helped Clint pull pranks on the others, which normally ended in death glares or bruises, though the bruises were mainly from Natasha.

Natasha was as normal as ever, shooting the genius death glares whenever he cracked a offensive joke or pulled a prank. She did tend to smile more at the genius though, especially when he would walk around the common room without his trench coat on, his red and gold feathers glinting in the light.

Thor was always confused. He was still banned from the kitchen after he had a argument with the coffee machine and threw it at the wall, which a certain winged billionaire wasn't very happy about.

And Tony was as mischievous as ever, pulling pranks with Clint or scaring the life out of Steve, which he did quite often. He would still fly out as the Eagle sometimes, but he would warn the team first before he even put one feather out of place. Extremis was a part of his mind now, as was his armour, which was always useful. He could look something up in the blink of an eye, or call security without even uttering a word, and for these things he was entirely grateful. He had stopped the Shield fiasco by 'accidentally' shutting down their engines (when they were over the sea) and demanding through their coms for them to stop hunting him, and maybe he would let the helicarrier fly again.

Fury had begrudgingly agreed, and was rewarded with the engines regaining their power, though the Shield logo on each computer had been recoloured with red and gold, which didn't disappear until a few weeks after.

FoHFoHFoHFoHFoH

One evening, whilst Tony was working on his Iron Man armour, which could now fit his wings in quite comfortably, music loud and would give any neighbour a headache, even though Tony didn't really have any neighbours and his shop was sound proof, the whole team collectively walked down to the lab. They bounded through the door, whilst Jarvis turned the music off, grabbed the winged billionaire and proceeded to drag him upstairs.

They were all laughing by the time they made it to their destination, which turned out to be the cinema floor of the tower, which basically consisted of one huge wall, covered in a huge screen, and a load of random, comfy chairs. 

They all settled down, each claiming a chair for their own, and all ended up in a small huddle of chairs. Tony called out for Jarvis to put on a film from his large selection and The Hobbit revealed itself on the large screen. They each laughed when Bilbo had first furrowed his brow at the knock on his door, and a large dwarf came trundling in. And they all cackled when the Hobbit asked the dwarf if he knew him, to which the reply was no.

As soon as the film was finished, the whole team began to sing the Misty Mountains Cold from the film, though afterwards they realised that a certain inventor hadn't joined in. The looked at him and their eyes widened when they saw Tony curled up in a ball, wings curled around him as he quietly snored. Steve quietly snuck off, returning moments later with a few blankets and pillows, and each of the Avengers received one of each, all curling up in their desired sleeping positions.

The next morning, when Pepper was looking for Tony, who was supposed to be in a meeting in less than an hour, she was greeted with the sight of a Avengers sleeping pile, each still snoring softly. Pepper smiled, and carefully turned the lights back off, creeping out of the room and back into the elevator.

They were still all snoring a few hours later.


End file.
